Shirley Wild: Camp opens up new worlds for high school students

`Explore, Dream and Discover," three little words that open up a world of experiences for the 12 high school students who were selected for "Camp Justin!" held June 18-23.

For the past two summers, counselors from the Long Beach Unified School District selected 12 deserving students to take part in community event organizer Justin Rudd's six-day camp. Daily excursions, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., provided the young people with opportunities to expand their world beyond Long Beach, to reach out for different experiences in Southern California.

The camp is funded by a generous grant from an anonymous family's foundation to Rudd's nonprofit Community Action Team, which provides all of the costs of transportation and any other costs for the "experiences of a lifetime."

The camp not only "expands their world," but also it's fun!

Each day's activities are a surprise to the participants.

Every morning, Rudd rents a 15-passenger van and picks up the students and a chaperone (Beatriz Nieves). They are treated to six days of destinations, introductions and adventures. The concept is exposure to a variety of people, thoughts and places.

In Hollywood, they saw Mann's Chinese Theatre and the Walk of Fame, and the Hollywood sign. Locally, it was a behind-the-scenes tour of the Aquarium of the Pacific, the animal shelter and the Cal State Long Beach recycling center. In San Marino, they explored the Huntington Library and Gardens.

Another treat was the day at 20th Century Fox Studios in Century City, which included lunch in the commissary and a private tour by Ralph Millero, Rudd's partner. They visited three college campuses including USC, CSULB and UCLA, and during the van ride there, they took a slight detour down Rodeo Drive. In Downey they toured the courtroom of Judge Danny Lowenthal.

The highlight of the 2012 camp was a flight to San Francisco with a tour to the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz and a ride on the cable car. The students and two chaperones boarded JetBlue for a private Q&A with the pilot. The majority of the students were first-time fliers and only one had ever traveled to San Francisco.

Campers were engaged in talks by community leaders such as Lowenthal and business leaders John and Michelle Molina. Topics included happiness, success, education, equality, justice and animal care.

Each student received a professional photo shoot from famed photographer Samuel Lippke. Students ate delicious breakfasts and lunches each day, as well as morning and late afternoon snacks. Dining highlights included lunch at Boudine's in San Francisco, K Pasta, La Strada, Open Sesame, Lucille's and the commissary at 20th Century Fox Studios.

On the first day, students received digital cameras, leather journals and fine writing pens to document their experience. They also received brand-new athletic shoes for a week of walking. As the program progressed, students were joined by former Miss Long Beach Elisa Sabes when they went to Target to choose new outfits, socks, underwear and toiletries.

One of the interesting activities was a budget and calorie limit given to purchase what they wanted for breakfast at Albertsons. Some chose fried chicken! Calories weren't a problem that day as the group went horseback riding in Griffith Park.

"We've got some cool firefighters in Long Beach," was commented after a tour, inspirational talk and advice from Station 16 at the Long Beach Airport. A tour of the Long Beach coastline was conducted aboard the Big Red Bus, accompanied by Miss Long Beach 2012 Kristin Bopp, Mrs. Long Beach 2012 Rebekah Bennett, and Mrs. Southern California Cities 2012 Courtney O'Steen. An excursion to Palos Verdes provided some scenic and peaceful moments at the Wayfarer Chapel before hiking along the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

The last day of camp, they donned latex gloves and helped do a mini beach cleanup at Rosie's Dog Beach. For the final lunch of the week, campers invited their friends and family to a barbecue buffet at Lucille's. Each camper spoke about the week's activities and shared their highlights.

Guests were presented with a slide show of photos from the week and each took home a souvenir JustinRudd.com T-shirt.

FYI: The Community Action Team (CAT) puts on 60 or so events and contests each year.

News of social events with charitable purposes may be sent to Shirley Wild at spwild@verizon.net or by fax to 562-594-9668. Please include a contact phone number. Send high-resolution jpeg photos, by attachment, to spwild@verizon.net and include group name and identification of individuals from left. Call Shirley at 562-594-9468 for more information. Please check the website for coverage of additional events: www.presstelegram.com/social.